Texas Justice per the Economist Magazine

The US proudly leads the world with 748 people behind bars per 100,000 population. And to no one's surprise, Texas leads the US. Overcrowding is so bad that in the story below, the man was put in solitary confinement and had two roommates. Read below and see that the 65 year old with Parkinson's disease got what was coming to him. I know that is how I want my tax dollars spent.

THREE pickup trucks pulled up outside George Norris’s home in Spring, Texas. Six armed police in flak jackets jumped out. Thinking they must have come to the wrong place, Mr Norris opened his front door, and was startled to be shoved against a wall and frisked for weapons. He was forced into a chair for four hours while officers ransacked his house. They pulled out drawers, rifled through papers, dumped things on the floor and eventually loaded 37 boxes of Mr Norris’s possessions onto their pickups. They refused to tell him what he had done wrong. “It wasn’t fun, I can tell you that,” he recalls.

Mr Norris was 65 years old at the time, and a collector of orchids. He eventually discovered that he was suspected of smuggling the flowers into America, an offence under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. This came as a shock. He did indeed import flowers and sell them to other orchid-lovers. And it was true that his suppliers in Latin America were sometimes sloppy about their paperwork. In a shipment of many similar-looking plants, it was rare for each permit to match each orchid precisely.

In March 2004, five months after the raid, Mr Norris was indicted, handcuffed and thrown into a cell with a suspected murderer and two suspected drug-dealers. When told why he was there, “they thought it hilarious.” One asked: “What do you do with these things? Smoke ’em?”

Prosecutors described Mr Norris as the “kingpin” of an international smuggling ring. He was dumbfounded: his annual profits were never more than about $20,000. When prosecutors suggested that he should inform on other smugglers in return for a lighter sentence, he refused, insisting he knew nothing beyond hearsay.

He pleaded innocent. But an undercover federal agent had ordered some orchids from him, a few of which arrived without the correct papers. For this, he was charged with making a false statement to a government official, a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison. Since he had communicated with his suppliers, he was charged with conspiracy, which also carries a potential five-year term.

As his legal bills exploded, Mr Norris reluctantly changed his plea to guilty, though he still protests his innocence. He was sentenced to 17 months in prison. After some time, he was released while his appeal was heard, but then put back inside. His health suffered: he has Parkinson’s disease, which was not helped by the strain of imprisonment. For bringing some prescription sleeping pills into prison, he was put in solitary confinement for 71 days. The prison was so crowded, however, that even in solitary he had two room-mates.

Plagiarized - Why I Returned My iPad by Peter Bregman

A little more than a week after buying the iPad, I returned it to Apple. The problem wasn't the iPad exactly, though it has some flaws. The problem was me.
I like technology, but I'm not an early adopter. I waited for the second-generation iPod, the second-generation iPhone, and the second-generation MacBook Air.
But the iPad was different. So sleek. So cool. So transformational. And, I figured, since it's so similar to the iPhone, most of the kinks would already be worked out.
So at 4 PM on the day the 3G iPad was released, for the first time in my life, I waited in line for two hours to make a purchase.
I set up my iPad in the store because I wanted to make sure I could start using it the very moment I bought it. And use it I did. I carried it with me everywhere; it's so small and thin and light, why not bring it along?
I did my email on it, of course. But I also wrote articles using Pages. I watched episodes of Weeds on Netflix. I checked the news, the weather, and the traffic. And, of course, I proudly showed it to, well, anyone who indicated the least bit of interest. (That could be a whole post in itself. We proudly show off new purchases as though simply possessing them is some form of accomplishment. Why? I didn't create the iPad. I just bought one.)
It didn't take long for me to encounter the dark side of this revolutionary device: it's too good.
It's too easy. Too accessible. Both too fast and too long-lasting. Certainly there are some kinks, but nothing monumental. For the most part, it does everything I could want. Which, as it turns out, is a problem.
Sure I might want to watch an episode of Weeds before going to sleep. But should I? It really is hard to stop after just one episode. And two hours later, I'm entertained and tired, but am I really better off? Or would it have been better to get seven hours of sleep instead of five?
The brilliance of the iPad is that it's the anytime-anywhere computer. On the subway. In the hall waiting for the elevator. In a car on the way to the airport. Any free moment becomes a potential iPad moment.
The iPhone can do roughly the same thing, but not exactly. Who wants to watch a movie in bed on an iPhone?
So why is this a problem? It sounds like I was super-productive. Every extra minute, I was either producing or consuming.
But something — more than just sleep, though that's critical too — is lost in the busyness. Something too valuable to lose.
Boredom.
Being bored is a precious thing, a state of mind we should pursue. Once boredom sets in, our minds begin to wander, looking for something exciting, something interesting to land on. And that's where creativity arises.
My best ideas come to me when I am unproductive. When I am running but not listening to my iPod. When I am sitting, doing nothing, waiting for someone. When I am lying in bed as my mind wanders before falling to sleep. These "wasted" moments, moments not filled with anything in particular, are vital.
They are the moments in which we, often unconsciously, organize our minds, make sense of our lives, and connect the dots. They're the moments in which we talk to ourselves. And listen.
To lose those moments, to replace them with tasks and efficiency, is a mistake. What's worse is that we don't just lose them. We actively throw them away.
"That's not a problem with the iPad," my brother Anthony — who I feel compelled to mention is currently producing a movie called My Idiot Brother — pointed out. "It's a problem with you. Just don't use it as much."
Guilty as charged. It is a problem with me. I can't not use it if it's there. And, unfortunately, it's always there. So I returned it. Problem solved.
But it did teach me something about the value of boredom. And I'm far more conscious now of using those extra moments, the in-between time, the walking and riding and waiting time, to let my mind wander.
Around the same time I returned my iPad, I noticed that my eight-year-old daughter Isabelle was unbelievably busy from the moment she got home from school to the moment she went to bed. Bathing, reading, playing guitar, eating dinner, doing homework, she was non-stop until I rushed her off to bed. Once in bed she would try to talk to me but, worried about how little sleep she was getting, I would shush her, urging her to go to sleep.
We have a new ritual now, and it really has become my favorite part of the day. I put her to bed 15 minutes earlier than before. She crawls into bed and, instead of shushing her, I lie next to her and we just talk. She talks about things that happened that day, things she's worried about, things she's curious or thinking about. I listen and ask her questions. We laugh together. And our minds just wander

Happiness is ....

Happiness seems to be a popular topic these days on the airwaves. I’ve heard some interesting statistics:
• Per a Harvard study, most people would rather live in a community where they make $50,000 and everyone else makes $25,000 than make $100,000 and everyone else makes $200,000. Me too.
• Per 60 Minutes, Danes are the happiest people in the world. They attribute this to low expectations; they don’t feel pressure to improve their lot in life.
• The happiest groups of people are the very young and those over 50. I can attest to the over 50 but can’t remember the very young, though the grandchildren seem pretty happy.
• Serious illness does not negatively affect happiness beyond a couple of months with three exceptions … depression, acute pain and sleep disorder.
The one that resonated best with me was a CSPAN speech to the American Enterprise Institute. The author convincingly argued that happiness is best measured in a person’s feeling of their own earned success. Unearned success doesn’t lead to sustained happiness. Studies show that lottery winners, people who receive a large inheritance or welfare recipients get a short lived bump in happiness but then sink into depression, alcoholism and the like. They don’t enjoy spending the money. They didn’t earn it.
It is not just about money. Earned success can be measured in money but also in children you’ve taught, illness you’ve cured, people you’ve helped, the children you’ve raised, etc. When you feel good about yourself, that you have done something good; you will be grateful, you will care about other people more than yourself and you will be happy.

Who Says We Need Water

I was recently reminded why I dislike the government running things. Now I’m sure you are thinking, “Didn’t he use this forum to support government health care?” Guilty as charged but that was different. Health care does not operate in a free, capitalistic market and what we have is severely broken and getting worse. Now, let’s get on tack on track.

I had a water leak. So much so that I ran up a bill of over $2,000 before I knew it. Here is some background you need to know. In an effort to support conservation (with which I agree), the rate goes up with usage. The first 10,000 gallons for a month is priced at $2.50 per thousand gallons. After 15,000 gallons the rate has escalated to $8 per thousand gallons. I leaked over 200,000 gallons. (The oil leak in the gulf didn’t have much on me.) The net result being that I paid the $8 rate on just about all of it. The water company invited me to their board meeting to protest my bill. This sounded like fun.

The day arrived and I pled my case trying to get their sympathy as a customer and neighbor. They explained that the water was gone and somebody had to pay for it. I agreed and said I wanted to pay for what I used. However, my leak was more an act of nature than gross consumption. Therefore it would be reasonable to charge me the $2.50 rate rather than the punitive $8 rate. They countered saying I needed to pay my full bill and the reason is very logical. They have this rule book and the rule book says I have to pay. (At this point I paused and looked around. It appeared to be a pretty conservative bunch and I doubt they had any idea that I was the Grayson County citizen that had voted for Obama.) I said that I disagreed, that I didn’t think it was logical and that it reminded me of my worst fears about the new national healthcare. My fear is that I have an illness where there is a known solution but some government bureaucrat is reading out of a manual saying nope, we got to do this other thing that doesn’t work. I made my point but I sensed I was now losing the sympathy vote. They countered with "You need to pay for the water you use." I said, “I will, what does it cost?” To my amazement, not a single water board member had a clue what water costs. They knew that they spent $17,000 on electricity last month and that electricity was their highest expense, surprisingly more than the water. They knew they lost $42,000 in the first 4 months of 2010 but it should be made up in the summer. But they had no idea what a gallon of water cost them. I could have offered to calculate it for them, it would have been simple, but I was speechless. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and that they didn’t seem to think it was a problem. The water board didn’t know what water cost and could care less. Dumbfounded, I thanked them and left.

Cow Sense

Michael and his lovely girlfriend Angela came to visit this past week. They were here only a short time before I was reminded of 7 year old Michael when he declared “Cow bones are my life.” I struggled with this for some time, trying to find the deep wisdom. I owned cows at the time and was not impressed. They were nowhere near as smart as any dog, cat or horse I had gotten to know. In fact, they crap in their food. That which doesn’t land in their food they tend to wear around as some form of fashion statement, one that I hope never catches on. What could cows be telling Michael?

Then one day I realized the cows had taught me something profound. Occasionally, you need to move cows to another pasture, to the barn or off your neighbor’s property. Modern day urban cowboys like me use 4-wheelers instead of a horse (horses don’t listen to me either). Ever try to herd a cow. It does not work with today’s cows … and you only irritate them. What does work is a bag of food on the back of the 4-wheeler. Communicate what you have to offer the cow and she will follow you anywhere.

This is not unlike management today. The day of command and control Marine style is dying. Today, we need to communicate with the group and they need to want to follow you. I have found women are better at this style of management than men. Besides having caught up with men in math and science and having most of the university degrees by a growing margin; they have the right temperament and will be the future leaders. They have moved beyond being just teachers and nurses as was the case when I was a 7 year old. You know how you hear people say today that fifty is the new forty (sixty is the new forty in my case). Let me be the first to tell you, women are the new men. A profound thought taught by cows. Hopefully we won’t start learning from ants where the females keep only a very few males. “Male ants, which come from unfertilized eggs, typically serve one purpose: to mate with a queen. Males are usually in short supply, and a queen produces male eggs only when it's time to make more colonies. Males, which have short life spans, die shortly after mating.”

New Must Have Gadget

I blogged a few times ago about Shirley leaving her cell phone at a restaurant. She is not the first person to do so nor the last. It is a serious problem as your phone becomes evermore critical in defining who you are. ... and it won't be long before it is also our primary payment device, replacing plastic cards. It is not something you want to leave behind.

Enter the new ZOMM. A bluetooth connected attachment to your key chain. Get more than 35 feet from your cell and it starts to vibrate, light up and beep. A savior if you are going to your car, not so good if you're entering the restroom. You need to get used to asking for a table within 35 feet of the restroom. Otherwise you will probably start leaving your keys at the table with your phone. This works if you're driving, but what if you rode with someone else. oops.

A new technology wave has begun … and the consumer rules

Apple has ushered in the next technology wave, the one where normal consumers are now in the lead. In the financial industry where I work, techies have always been the early adopters for new products ranging from online banking to bill pay. This began to change with the iPhone. iPhone owners have become the early adopters to mobile banking, followed by other smartphone owners. Techies are third.

The reason is that anybody can download an application from the app store and it works. And it is easy. No longer is it like getting a wireless router for your home and spending all weekend trying to make it work. This was a source of pride for the techies. For the rest of us, it was “I going to wait for one of my geek friends to figure this out for me.” Now, we no longer need to wait.

Phase 2 of this phenomenon is the iPad. It is simple, it’s sleek, and it is ooooh so powerful. It has access to almost all of the 150,000 + iPhone apps and already has several thousand apps of its own. iTunes redefined the music industry. The iPhone redefined the cell phone industry. iPad could redefine a bunch of industries:
· The laptop (and in most cases the mouse) is likely dead. It is hard to find a reason to have one anymore.
· The publishing industry. They hope it will provide the basis for a profitable subscription model. Regardless, the industry is going to go through a major change.
· TV. Why not watch what you want, whenever you want via the Internet. Steve Jobs will likely get the cost of a TV show down to $.99 (and I’m sure CSPAN, PBS and many others will be free). You won’t need a TV or cable unless the manufacturers get lucky and hook you on 3D.
· Bye, bye Microsoft. Office like apps for the iPad cost $10. Microsoft no longer controls the operating system or the browser. It will be a slow and painful death.

Banking?? Who knows? Most consumer banking will be done via a smartphone or tablet in the not so distant future. Me, I'm thinking of giving up my IBM Selectric.

Thomas Jefferson Who???

Scientists and theologians have been at odds for centuries. Science believes in challenging what we think we know. The religious believe in faith and punishing those that challenge any part of their faith. Copernicus was persecuted by the church for theorizing that the earth revolved around the sun vs. the earth being the heavenly center of the universe. Galileo was imprisoned for his discoveries.

We now have a modern day version (besides jihad terrorists). Texas has a board of educators that determines what goes in the textbooks for our children. This year the board voted to enact new teaching standards for history and social studies that will alter which material gets included in school textbooks. It decided to drop Thomas Jefferson from a world history section devoted to great political thinkers. Jefferson is widely regarded as one of the most important of all the founding fathers of the United States and the chief architect of the constitution … but he also is the one that first suggested the separation of church and state. Hence, he is no longer part of US history in Texas … and a lot of other states that end up with the Texas textbooks because the publishers can’t afford different books for every state. And I bet these people are also concerned that Obama is taking away their country.

Oops

A person with a great memory can be absent minded. I am a case in point. I always amazed my dad with my ability to remember things of minute detail but I have always been absent minded. I often focus on one thing and forget the other things I’m doing. Of course, now I’m older so the memory is gone ... but unfortunately I’m still absent minded. The other day Shirley and I were at a local mall sitting at a table. The time came for Shirley’s hair appointment so she left me at the table with the Laurel Burch bag of recent purchases while I was finishing a Sudoku on my iPhone. I finished the puzzle and left, and yes, without the bag. I picked Shirley up at mall entrance when her hair was done. We were home before Shirley asked where the bag was. She was shocked. What was my problem? In my defense, she has known about this problem for about as long as she has known me. It was like the second meal we ate together when I forgot my sunglasses on the table. Ever since, she takes any objects I’m about to set on a table and puts them in her purse. Why would she trust me with a bag now? What is her problem?

Today, I was working from home. I was on a business conference call using the home phone when a call was coming through from Shirley. She was home and knew I was on a business call. I went to find her to figure out what she was doing. She said she was looking for her phone and could not find it. I gave her my cell to call her cell. The restaurant we ate dinner at last night answered. I guess we all lose something when we get old. Touché.

Puppies ... Puppies

Let me introduce Bentley and Bristol. A few weeks ago Shirley and I adopted these two puppies. You might wonder why it took me so long to blog about it. To be honest, it was a trial period. I was hoping we could trade up for some cute ones but no such luck. We had to give them names that started with a “B” as per Shirley rule 187. I think in this case, a mistake. The mother appears to be mostly Jack Russell and nobody knows who the dad is. We’re thinking one night stand. The Vet, Shirley and others think Bassett Hound. However, I think differently. The way Bentley gnaws at my fingers, burrows into the covers and gives me that stare; I’m thinking more rat. I thought Willard would be a more appropriate name. Shirley exercised her normal veto on that idea. So Bentley it is. You’ll need to watch your toes if you come to visit.

Frequent Flier Blues

Monday was a cloudy, rainy day. I was scheduled to fly out but everything on the Internet indicated flights were on time. I arrived 2 hours early at the airport for a flight to San Diego. There was an earlier flight leaving in 20 minutes in terminal A, gate A29. I was in the terminal D, scheduled to leave from D37. Rather than rush over to A29 via the tram, engage in some serious speed hiking and a likely get middle seat if I’m lucky enough to get on, I thought it better to get a Starbucks coffee and chocolate chip cookie, go to my gate and leisurely wait for my flight. I was scheduled to arrive 3 hours before my dinner with Lea, no problem. After about an hour, I noticed I was still about the only person at the gate. I checked my emails and sure enough, American had sent me several notifications of a gate change. The new gate was A29. I’m thinking this is a bad omen. I get to A29 in time to hear the announcement of another gate change to C2, a third gate in a third terminal. I’m thinking a really bad omen. I get to C2 about 25 minutes before scheduled departure. The gate attendant is asking all the San Diego passengers to find a seat and quit bothering her. She needed to focus her attention on getting the plane that was currently at the gate awaiting departure for Mexico City. This is no longer an omen, its crap.

The Mexico City plane was held for passengers due in from Honolulu. The two previous gates I was at were empty. Someone is messing with me. Finally, that plane leaves the gate, my plane arrives and empties passengers. Then just we are getting ready to board, the gate agent announces that an emergency chute accidentally deployed and they need to call maintenance. An hour later we finally start to board. The plane is full and no one is looking forward to a 3 hour flight. We wait in line for our turn to take off. Finally, it is our turn. Then we get the announcement that they just closed the airport, waiting for a thunderstorm to move through. The pilot explains how important our safety is but I just want to kill someone. Instead, I call Lea and cancel dinner. I’ve got three million American miles and wouldn’t mind if I never got another one.

Unintended Consequences ... again

I gave 21 month old Hayden an iTouch. She was always using Jill’s iPhone; often when I would call or soon after a missed call. For some reason she would never tell her mother that I had called. Having her own iTouch seemed the perfect solution. Jill would know I called and the life of her iPhone would be extended at least a year. And all was going along swimmingly for a month. Other kids and parents would ooh and aah as Hayden navigated through the touch screen and played counting games and matched barnyard animals to their silhouettes. Her mother and I would beam at the feats of this amazing child. She also liked to watch her favorite YouTube videos of Elmo, Dora and others. She hadn’t figured out the navigation so she would ask Jill to change videos once she tired of the one playing and replaying. All was well in Hayden land.

But then one day at 22 months she did figure out how to navigate YouTube. She knows she likes Dora but doesn’t know she wouldn’t like “Death of Dora.” We did not see that coming. Besides her nightmares, Jill and I have this fear that some unsuspecting child and mother coming over to watch her play on the iTouch only to see Dora’s limbs being severed by a chainsaw. I know I don’t sleep nights anymore.

Can't live with them, can't live without them - Verizon

The phone companies provide us services that we really need: cell phones, home phones, DSL and WiFi in many locations. Life without the Internet or a cell phone is hard to fathom these days. And they work so hard for our business. I recently switched to Verizon’s DSL service. I had gotten something in the mail from them at least twice a week for months. It is hard to watch a TV show without seeing a Verizon or AT&T ad. So why do they do such a crappy job of service once you sign up?

I (really Shirley) had previous experiences with ordering DSL in California back in 2000. They (AT&T) had orders backlogged for 90 days and then failed to show up for the install. They had lost 100,000 orders. Oops, back to the back of the line. I would guess that Shirley made 20 different calls to them with an average duration of 2 hours each. It took that long to get to a person who would answer the phone with “How can I provide you with excellent service?” They had no clue. Verizon has gotten better over the past ten years based on where they started but it is still really sad. This time we were given three different “service ready” dates. The 3rd time it actually worked up not until after 6 PM. They somehow forget to tell you about the after 6 PM part. It seems like it would be so easy to do it right, saving them a lot of money and their customer tremendous frustration. All they need to do is communicate the right “service ready” date and time. You might think my case was a fluke but almost the same thing happened to Eric 6 months earlier.

Not in Kansas Anymore

I made it home from a speaking gig in the flat, white Wichita. I know it is hard to believe that someone from Dallas complains about a place being flat, but that’s Wichita. As always, it’s nice to be home, especially from Wichita. … Did I mention cold?

I made it home in time for the Super Bowl. Good game and fun to see New Orleans win … and glad I didn’t bet on it. I would have gone with Peyton. “The Who” was the featured half time act. I grew up listening to “The Who” and I’m a grandfather. I think it is time they change their name to “The Was.”

It reminded me incident in the early 80s when I was managing the credit union division for EDS. A female field rep was converting a credit union in Chicago and had not doing a good job. She got more rope than most because she was attractive and personable but it got to the point that the customer complained. She was home in Dallas for a couple of days before she was scheduled to go back to Chicago. I called her in and fired her. She didn’t make a case that she was being picked on or misunderstood or how hard she worked. Instead, the only thing she said in outrage was “but I have tickets for The Who next week.” I definitely think I waited too long to fire her.

You can't handle the truth

Reality should be setting in for Hayden's parents. Sunday morning Jill put Hayden in her chair for breakfast. The baby that never cries had a melt down. Bawling like I have never heard. Jill puts a plate in front of her with the result being breakfast everywhere. Only Becket with the food treasure hunt seemed to see the benefit of the new, bad Hayden. Jill was convinced it was an anomaly, "Oh, she must be teething" became the accepted explanation.

Then there was lunch Monday. The good Hayden was next to me in a booth at a local Plano establishment. But then it became time to put her in her chair, oops. Melt down. Tears running down her cheeks, she struggled with all her might to reach any object on the table so she could turn them into projectile, with some success. It only lasted about TEN MINUTES. Teething again? Nope, this time it was my fault for not putting her in the chair immediately.

A couple of blogs ago I wrote about an unpleasant experience loaning my Fit to Tyler. The response I got was "Gees, somebody sensitive about their car! Well, I printed out that blog so when Hayden grows up she can see how Bops was mean and said she was a boy. By the way, you got to stop making our baby cry!" Sounds a lot like an adult version of a melt down to me. I think she come by it honestly.

Oops Obama

Let’s get those rotten big banks! Obama appears for the first time to be making a key presidential decision based on politics rather than his normal, pragmatic reasoning. He decided to take on the hated big banks against the advice of his treasury secretary and primary economic consultant (Larry Summers). Let’s go after those evil doers that survived only at taxpayer’s expense. I reminds of my days at EDS when a big deal went bad. It had 5 stages: the signing, the celebration, reality setting in, the search for the guilty and finally, the punishment of the uninvolved.

Let’s look at where most of the TARP/bailout money went that we won’t get back:
• AIG – an insurance company
• Freddie and Fannie – Pseudo government mortgage lenders that targeted loaning to underserved.
• GM, Chrysler, GMAC – the auto industry

What businesses did the most to help the situation by merging in troubled/guilty companies: JP Morgan Chase (Bear Sterns, WAMU), Wells Fargo (Wachovia), Bank of America (Countrywide, Merrill Lynch)

What companies got TARP money that did not ask for it but the government insisted: JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs

Who is Obama going after: The companies that did good and those that got taxpayer money they didn’t even want.

Oops Obama, this will not serve you well.

Having a Fit

Shirley has not been able to drive while she recovers from her latest hip surgery. Knowing this, about two months ago, Tylir realized I had one more car than I could drive. He had an offer on his RX8 that he wanted to sell before it blew another engine now that it was out of warrantee. He asked to borrow my Fit for a week or so (the so turns out to be about 2 months). I was driving the Lexus since Shirley won’t ride in my Fit. Thus I had no problem with it, in fact encouraged him to keep it as long as needed.

Everyone knows I love my Fit. I proudly show all the awards it wins every year for being "best in class" from the auto magazines. Tylir even encouraged me by suggesting he was going to get a Fit. Who would have thought he would turn on me and send me an email titled “Common Honda Fit Problems”? It turns out he did a Google search and was able to find Fit criticism on the Internet. Dahhhh. But he couldn’t wait to share. Needless to say I had a Fit (sorry, I couldn’t resist). Who does he think he is criticizing a Fit and sharing with me? It’s not like I bring up all the bad things about Hayden to him. Things like “Hayden is a somewhat common first name for men (1179 out of 1220). That means it is a male name 97% of the time. Yeah, the truth hurts doesn’t it? So there!

Crats lose, crats lose

The democrats/Obama just lost what most of us would consider one of the safest democrat seats in the US Senate, Ted Kennedy's former seat. What happened? In Bill Clinton's famous words, "It's the economy, stupid." High unemployment and fat cat bailouts don't make for good politics. While I remain an Obama supporter, the move toward split government is a good thing ... and there seams to be a strong spending control message in there as well. Republicans and democrats may need to start working together again. Unfortunately I doubt they will address issues that really solve our problems. The biggest threat to the country is our economic strength. We cannot afford to pay more than the rest of the world ensure the free flow of oil from the middle east. Money spent for energy independence is better directed than money toward wars and defence. We are fighting 2 wars to protect our position in the Middle East. Europe, China and Japan have a much greater need for their oil but we pay the bill to protect it. If we got out of there, the terrorists wouldn't need to kill us.

Life is great ... but it can always be better

Eric came over at lunchtime yesterday to help me install DSL. He brought bathrobe clad Audrey with him. We all went into the study where Audrey sat in the soft, overstuffed chair, a pillow on one side and the big armrest on the other. She said she was hungry so I made her a melted cheese tortilla and brought her a Capri Sun. I looked at how comfortable she looked and it reminded me of my good friend Albert Ku.

Albert has a way of enjoying life. Back one day when Albert was single, he walked outside in his robe to get the mail, smoking a cigarette, drinking a beer and he pulled out of the mailbox a new issue of Playboy. He said, “Scott, life just doesn’t get any better than this.” On another occasion we were playing golf. Albert loves golf, I hate it … but he has managed to get me to play a few times. At about the third tee I hit a drive that reminded me why I hate the sport. I said a few cuss words and Albert looked at me and said “It is a beautiful day, we are on a golf course in Hawaii and it’s TUESDAY!”

I looked back at Audrey and said “Sweetheart, isn’t life good when at noon you are in your jammies and robe, sitting in a great chair, eating good food and drinking a Capri Sun?” She looked at me and said, “It would be better if I was watching a cartoon.” I shut up and turned on the Cartoon Network.

Perspective

The US dodged a bullet when the terrorist failed to ignite his bomb on that Delta flight over Detroit this past Christmas. Those on the flight and those close to them were certainly lucky. It would have a horrible, senseless tragedy. But we need to put it into perspective. There are many tragedies that kill more innocent people and cost more money; earthquakes, hurricanes, automobile accidents and revenge for the terrorist attacks. As bad as they are, none of these with the possible exception of revenge threaten our way of life. There are several threats out there that might:

• The financial debacle – we almost went over the edge with this one. We are not out of the woods yet with the high unemployment and foreclosures that still loom.

• Health care – whether or not you think the 40,000,000 without insurance should get healthcare, the continuing astronomical increases in costs will break us all. The only way out is for logical rationing of health care. It cannot happen as long as the lobbyists control Congress.

• Climate change – Shortages of water are expected to create well over 10,000,000 additional refugees in Africa alone over the next few years. The losers are going to go after the winners of this lottery. Watch out Canada.

• Population – The earth’s resources are fixed. It is limited on how many people and animals it can support. We are probably already beyond the earth’s ability with7 billion people, providing we want them to live in what we would consider a reasonable lifestyle.

Terrorism is awful but we need to put it in perspective.

Happy New Year

Happy New Decade as well. I'm optimistic. Its got to get better. Surely over spending, over warring and over eating has not really caught up with us. We're America after all. We're just better, more in touch than the rest of them.

I have my resolutions for the new year. I'm going to be smarter, better looking and younger this year. I was going to be taller as well but I didn't want to over extent and get disappointed. I'm going to do just these few things at a time and improve my chances for success.

My goal for the decade is to lose weight. I'm thinking of trying the "get fat" diet where I force myself to overeat to the point I no longer want to eat. I know it worked for me with lasagna. If it works I can write a book and get rich to the point where I can eat anything I want. I'll take my time in that I have ten years.